Gonzales aide won't testify in Senate By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A senior aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has decided against testifying before lawmakers about her role in the ousters of eight federal prosecutors, the latest flare-up in the controversy surrounding the Justice Department.
Monica Goodling's announcement that she would take the Fifth Amendment to avoid possibly incriminating herself came as the embattled attorney general cast himself as misunderstood in his conflicting accounts of his involvement in the firings.
Goodling, the Justice Department's liaison to the White House, questioned the fairness of congressional hearings and said lawmakers already seem to have their minds made up about possible wrongdoing by Bush administration officials.
At the White House, deputy press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday it was "unfortunate that a public servant no longer feels that her testimony would be treated fairly before the Congress."
Perino said Gonzales still has the support of the president and has urged Justice Department employees to cooperate with Congress' request for testimony about the fired prosecutors. "However, we must respect the constitutional right of the individuals involved, and we're not going to question decisions she made in private conversations with her and her attorney to protect those rights," Perino said.
Meanwhile, Gonzales was in Chicago and Cincinnati Tuesday on the latest leg of a multistate tour to promote a crackdown on child sex abuse. In each city, Gonzales met with U.S. attorneys from the area who might be smarting over the Justice Department's handling of their colleagues' dismissals.
Gonzales' arrival in Cincinnati was greeted by an editorial in The Cincinnati Enquirer urging him to resign.
"Misstatements, mismanagement and a misunderstanding of the role of the attorney general have made Alberto Gonzales' continued service a liability for the United States," the newspaper said. "He should resign, now."
A day earlier, Gonzales said he was "really pained" by Republicans and Democrats who say he has lost his credibility in dealing with the firings. A growing number of critics say the dismissals were politically motivated.
He sought to stem the furor over his March 13 statement that he "never saw documents" and "never had a discussion" about the firings. His schedule for last Nov. 27 showed he participated in an hourlong meeting and approved a detailed plan on the dismissals. He maintained he was not closely involved in the firings, and did not help select which prosecutors would be told to resign.
"Let me try to be more precise about my involvement," Gonzales said in an interview with NBC News. "When I said on March 13th that I wasn't involved, what I meant was that I had not been involved, was not involved in the deliberations over whether or not United States attorneys should resign."
(Edit: HUH?)
Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that Gonzales has been "badly weakened" by conflicting Justice Department stories on the firings — including his own.
"The explanation has been absolutely abysmal," Hoekstra said on C-Span's "Washington Journal."
"The president needs to make the decision as to whether this drip, drip, drip on the attorney general, you know — there's not anything that's come out in 10 days to enhance (his) position or credibility."
The House voted 329-78 Monday to strip the attorney general of his power to indefinitely appoint federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation. The Senate already approved similar legislation.
President Bush, though standing by Gonzales, has signaled he will not veto the legislation.
Goodling, on voluntary leave from the Justice Department, was one of several aides closely involved in planning the firings. She was called to testify as part of a Senate inquiry, and her refusal appeared to surprise Justice officials who hours earlier said department aides would fully cooperate with the investigation.
"I have decided to follow my lawyer's advice and respectfully invoke my constitutional right," Goodling said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Her attorney, John Dowd, said the Senate inquiry amounts to a perjury trap for his client. "One need look no further than the recent circumstances and proceedings involving Lewis Libby," Dowd said.
Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted earlier this month for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case.
"The American people are left to wonder what conduct is at the base of Ms. Goodling's concern that she may incriminate herself in connection with criminal charges if she appears before the committee under oath," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), D-Vt. |
